


June Bride

by Ann7121



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 07:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18846859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann7121/pseuds/Ann7121
Summary: Backstory for Soolin





	June Bride

The long, slanting downpours had stopped overnight and she woke to sunlight so bright and hot that the puddles on the stone flags outside sizzled and dried in its heat. Breakfast was especially nice...a soft white roll instead of the usual gritty coarse slices but she was too excited to do more than pick at it. The others were the same. They could all see the white dresses hung up in a line and the flower garlands that each would wear. 

She didn't mind the cold water she was given to wash in, nor the tug on her hair by an impatient helper who ruthlessly teased out the tangles until her eyes watered and her face was framed by a shining waterfall of gold. Her dress was cool, silky to the touch, fastened at the back with buttons made from pearly shells. She was given flat soled shoes which felt strange on feet accustomed to go unshod and pinched her little toe but she didn't complain. 

She didn't need the curt instruction to sit still until called and not, under any circumstances, to get dirty. She felt like a princess and princesses were clean and unmarked. She sat so still she might have been a statue for the longest time but then a pulling and tingling in her bladder warned her that she needed to pee. She tried to ignore it but the fullness and pressure grew until at last she was forced to raise her hand. Surprisingly this aroused no more than a tightening of the lips on the stony face of the nearest helper. Her dress was pulled off, she was ushered to the outside privy and relieved herself, taking care not to get any wee on her shoes. Then she was hurried back inside, re-dressed and her hair brushed roughly. She sat quietly again, biting back the tears that threatened, surreptitiously rubbing the sore place on her arm where her helper had gripped her too tightly. 

One by one the girls were called. A helper instructed them to stand, thrust the garland of flowers on their shining heads and sent them into the chamber. The doors closed behind each one with a bang. 

Now there was only her and the helpers left in the room and she allowed herself to wonder what the ceremony would be like. All the girls went through it when they were seven, except those who were blemished in some way. No one knew what happened to them but it was whispered that they were sent away to be changed so they were no longer ugly. She hoped that had happened to her twin and that she would find her again one day. She had loved her despite her ugly birthmark - the outward sign of her inner corruption, or so a helper had said.

The pretty girls did not come back either. They went to new families, the June Brides, the lucky ones. She was so glad she was pretty, though she did miss Klara, and although she really wanted a new family she was a little afraid that she was being disloyal to the one that had disappeared without warning. She hoped her new family lived on a farm like the one she had grown up on. Perhaps there would be Conerells to feed and she could stroke their soft orange fur.

The helpers were relaxing, passing around the banga leaves which they chewed on special occasions. She stared at the rough, whitewashed wall, counting the flies that landed on it.

Then her name, "Soolin Linqist." She scrambled to her feet and her garland, hastily crammed on, scratched her head. She went through the door.  
...

"And my life changed forever, " Soolin remembered as she pulled her hair into braids so tight that her scalp felt sore. Loose hair belonged to the little June Bride in her white dress who had learned that night that the Universe didn't hear you, no matter how hard you cried.


End file.
